A friendly chat
by Sharry93
Summary: "Oh man, I should really stretch my legs a bit." "You're complaining a lot today." "And your mood is even worse than usual." They sighed simultaneous. "Sometimes I wonder how I can bear your presence", he murmured. "What? Do you think I want to be here?" the other one replied, "I could think of better things to kill some time than listening to your annoying nagging."


A friendly chat

"Oh gosh, I'm craving for some cigarettes."  
"I dare you to soil the air with your nasty nicotine, dart brow."  
Sanji rolled his eyes. With slow movements he opened his jacket and combed through its inside pockets. Sighing deeply he leaned back. He still had his lighter but that was about it.

"Either way I don't have any, so keep your pants on, Marimo."

"Keep yours on. You know that this shit is damn unhealthy, right?"

"Seriously?"

Slightly he hit his head against the back of the other one's, who was leaning against him, back to back.

"You're no one to talk about healthy lifestyles," he mumbled. "You're the idiot without neither a healthy sleep rhythm nor a healthy diet."

Zoro laughed softly. "There's nothing wrong with my sleep rhythm. I sleep enough. Besides I only eat what you cook. So you're the one to blame if it's junk food."  
"You're sleeping too much! That's the issue. Training half of the night and sleeping all day long can't be good for you body. And of course I cook in a healthy way! But it's totally not my fault if you drink yourself senseless every other night!"

For another time the swordsman laughed dryly.

"Not my fault that I can tolerate so much."  
And for another time Sanji hit his head slightly against the other one's.

"You're an idiot! Your craving for booze is almost as bad as Luffy's love for meat."  
"Or your need for cigarettes?"

"I can't fight it. Nicotine is addictive."

"Weak mind, weak body."

"Shut the fuck up!"

This time he jerked his head harder against the other one's, although he was almost certain that the hollow knock hurt him more than the swordsman.

"Could you stop doing that?" the other one hissed. "Not my fault, you forgot your damn fags."

"I didn't forget them!" he replied just as mad, "those assholes took them."  
"Well, you could have fought them."  
"Yeah sure", he answered dryly and leaned forward to massage his tense legs.

Already way too long he was sitting cross-legged, his feet had fallen asleep long ago, and carefully he tried to move them.

"Oh fuck, I should really stretch my legs a bit."  
"You're complaining a lot today."  
"And your mood is even worse than usual."  
They sighed simultaneous.

"Sometimes I wonder how I can bear your presence", he murmured.

"What? Do you think I want to be here?" the other one replied, "I could think of better things to kill some time than listening to your annoying nagging."

"Well, I could think of better people to be here with me, too."

"No", Zorro said surprisingly cold, "you could not."  
Sanji paused.

"Admit it. You're glad it's me and none of the others."

He was still holding onto his legs, but his hands didn't move.

"Do we need to worry about them?" he asked instead of replying.

The other one didn't answer right away.

"Come on", Sanji said louder, feeling the rising panic.

"No", Zoro answered emotionless, "no need to."  
Sanji leaned back again, allowed peace to ease his mind.

"Good. At least they are safe."  
Zoro didn't reply anything.

"You're right", Sanji admitted. He preferred to hear his own voice than to hear nothing at all.

"I'm glad none of the others are here, yet it calms me that I'm not alone. Kind of selfish, isn't it?"

For another time the swordsman laughed dryly.

"Hey, don't be so soppy. Not like I'm doing you a favor right now."  
They fell silent again.

Darkness surrounded them. Sanji couldn't even see his hands in front of his very own eyes. Even blind he wouldn't be able to see less. It couldn't be blacker than black.

But at least he could feel the body heat of the swordsman against his back. The only thing able to warm him within this coldness.

Of course he could use his lighter for light and heat, but it wouldn't do much good. For one it was probably too weak to really fight the surrounding cold and on the other side he needed no light to know where he was and what was happening around him.

Because around him happened absolutely nothing.

He sighed again.

"Talk about something, Marimo."  
"What? Why should I?" the other one mumbled with his calm, annoyed voice.

Sanji sighed again, more unnerved now. "It's dark, cold and damn quiet. Like at the bottom of the ocean, almost like a graveyard. Not the best vision to imagine, so talk about something, dammit!"

For a moment the other one stay silent.

"And about what?" he asked after a while.

"No clue. Anything. You got any crazy idea how to get out? What's your favorite color – I bet it's green? When was your first time? Anything really."

Now it was the other one who hit the backs of their heads against each other.

"Stop whining, cook. I will certainly not tell you the story of my life only because you cannot cope the silence."  
Sanji huffed a little bit offended.

"And regarding an escape plan..." Dull the other one knocked against the metal wall on Sanji's right side, like he was simply thumping his knee against it. "There is none."  
"What about your swords?"  
"They took them, just like your cigarettes."

For another time Zoro's voice sounded strangely hollow and emotionless. It had to be painful for him that he hadn't been able to guard them.

"Oh, well what if…"  
"Cook." Now the swordsman's usual voice was back. "We went through that already. We cannot do anything but wait."

Sanji knew it.

This had been one of the first things they had concluded after realizing their situation. But Sanji never had been the type of man who would wait patiently, not even talking about the swordsman.

He sighed again.

"So, how long do you think do we need to hold out with each other?"

He could feel how Zoro tilted his head from one side to another, cracking joints echoed through the dark nothingness.

"Not that much longer", he answered calm, almost relaxed.

Sanji nodded.

"By the way Cook." It was the first time that the other one opened the conversation. "What kind of bugs make you wet your pants again?"

"What?! Don't fuck with me! What the hell is it?"

"How am I supposed to know? It's pitch-black. Something's crawling over my leg, alright?"

"Get rid of it! Kill it!"

He tried to scoot away and jumped up. His head hit the ceiling almost knocking him out. Cursing he fell back on his butt, holding his head.

"Just stop it, Cook!" the other one gnarled and a soft crunch filled the air. "There, I killed it, whatever it was. Happy?"

Sanji still held onto his pounding head and leaned forwards.

"I really hope it's dead", he murmured and tried to calm his racing heart.

"If not, it will be soon", Zoro answered cold as ice.

"Not funny, idiot."  
"Indeed, it's not." But Sanji could hear the evil grin in Zoro's voice.

By now it wasn't as cold anymore, at least the air around them. The ground and the wall next to him were still chilly.

"But those bastards have been really strong, right", he murmured peevish, "knocked me out with one single blow. Who the hell were they by the way?"

"Pirates", Zoro answered calm.

"You knew them?"

The other one tilted his head again. "Recognized one or two of them from the wanted posters. Quite large numbers if I recall correctly."  
"Higher bounties than ours?"

"Well at least higher than yours."  
He jerked his elbow against the green-head's side, but the former pirate hunter laughed it off.

"But what did they want from us? They didn't beat us up for fun, right?"

"Can't you figure it out on your own?"

"I don't know what you're talking about. If they wanted our bounty they would have taken us along. Besides pirates can't just trade other pirates with the Navy."

Zoro sighed.

"They chased Luffy."  
"What?"  
The other one nodded.

"I think they mumbled something about revenge, but honestly I wasn't listening most of the time."  
"So why did they need us? As bait?"

"No, otherwise we wouldn't be here right now. They wanted to know where he is."  
Sanji froze.

"And… did you… tell them? Where we anchored?"

His voice was nothing more than a whisper. He had been unconscious; he hadn't been able to tell anything to anyone, but what if…

"Of course not! Do you trust me so little?! I didn't say one fucking word!"  
Zoro sounded ice-cold, almost hurt, but somehow hollow, like before.

But Sanji was relieved. Of course! If he could bet on somebody in things like honor and loyalty it would be Roronoa Zoro.

"So, after they failed to make you speak they took your swords, threw us in here, and left?"

"Something like that." It was more than obvious that the other one didn't want to talk about it, he sounded controlled, but also somewhat grieving.

Sanji sighed. He cursed himself for losing his consciousness. On the other side, if even Zoro hadn't been able to beat those guys he wouldn't be of much help.

"I'm sorry about your swords", he meant it.

"It's alright", the Marimo murmured, although his voice sounded everything but alright, "not like I need them any longer."

Sanji moved a little bit to the side and placed his head on Zoro's shoulder.

"How deep do you think we are?" he asked into the silence.

"At the bottom", Zoro answered, "wherever that is."

Sanji gulped heavily.

Slowly he lifted his hand and pressed it against the cold ceiling, lonely drops fell down on him, probably condensed water.

"It's strange that all that keeps us alive are those thin metal walls."

"And at the same time they're our death penalty", Zoro finished Sanji's sentence with his absolute voice.

The cook leaned himself a little bit closer against the other one and let his hand fall down.

They sat there for some time, before he started to search for the other one's hand, but Zoro pulled his arm away.

"Stop that crap. We're pirates, not some little kids."  
Sanji rolled on his side.

"So what?" He kept gliding down Zoro's arm. "We're still humans, right? And I don't want to be alone", he mumbled, searching for humane warmth.

"So, just in case you haven't notice, Cook: I'm stuck here with you and can't get away. So shut up!"

But as Sanji reached the other one's wrist, he froze. Sticky, warm fluid dripped down his fingers.

"Zoro?" he asked in shock and held his breath, his fingers slowly moving along the other one's hand. "What the…?"

"Don't brood over it, Cook. It's alright."  
"Your hands! What did they…?"

"Cook." The other one pressed his shoulder against Sanji's chest.

"Those are nothing but some bruises and cuts. It wasn't like they would let me off with a simple _I'm not gonna tell you where my captain is_."

Tears of anger filled his eyes, while he touched the deformed hand in the darkness.

"Those bastards", he whispered "I will kill them. I will kill all of them! After I took every single one of them and made their fingers…"  
Zoro roared in laughter and leaned closer against him.

"Fucking dammit Zoro! This isn't funny! Those assholes, they…"  
"Thank you."  
"What?"

"After all you are a good friend, dart brow. I'm glad as well that I'm not alone in here. It's much more entertaining with you."

Slowly this untamed anger disappeared while he felt the warmth of the other one, so close to him. But what stayed was this horrible truth and devastating sadness.

"But you deal with this way better than I do", he mumbled and leaned away.

"You need to accept things that you cannot change."

"You mean I need to accept that you're a dumb Marimo?"  
"Shut up, love cook."

Back to back they were sitting there.

By now the air was almost muggy.

He didn't imagine it like this, didn't think that it would happen this way.

"Why didn't they simply kill us? A clean shot through the skull or a smooth break of the neck?"

His mouth was strangely dry, the blood still stuck on his hand.

"Who knows. I have accepted long ago that the spiritual abysses of every single human are infinite."

"Oh gosh, stop boasting with your zen-wisdom."  
"Well I have no spare bullet for you, but if it's nothing more than snapping the neck…"  
Sanji froze as he realized that this wasn't some kind of bad joke. The other one was dead serious. He would free Sanji if he would ask him.

If he wanted to have an easy escape, if he didn't want to suffer miserably, didn't want to die miserably.

"Bullshit!" he replied, but his voice shook. "I bet I can hold out longer than you can."

Zoro laughed roughly.

"Deal. The looser has to…"  
He paused.

Sanji bit his lip, his hands clenched to fists. Wasn't the winner the actual looser?

He didn't want to die. But he had never been able to beat Zoro.

"The looser…" Zoro started again but without finishing the sentence and Sanji knew that he was fighting as well.

"The looser has to book two spots in hell", he said with rough words and could hear the other one laugh softly.

This wasn't the worst sound to leave this world with.

"Are you scared?" he whispered into the darkness. "That there is no hell? That there is nothing? That it will simply end?"

His voice broke.

He didn't want to die.

"And even if, we cannot change it."  
Now Zoro sounded calm again, like his usual self.

"We're at the bottom of the ground, Sanji. This here is our grave. We will die here."  
Lonely tears dropped down Sanji's face.

"But even if we can't change anything about that, we still have a choice."

"And that would be?" He didn't want to cry but he couldn't hinder the tears.

He didn't want to die.

"We can choose how to await death. If we spend the last minutes of our lives in fear, sadness and angst or if we accept what will happen and come to terms with it."  
"If you know how to do that, now would be a great moment to tell me."  
Zoro laughed again. But his voice was hoarse by now.

"Well, look at it this way. We will become part of the great ocean, part of the greatest adventure for following generations who seek their dreams. And who knows maybe – if your dream is true – we will even find the All Blue one day. Wouldn't be worst thing, right?"  
His dream!

"This is not helping at all! Motivating isn't one of your strengths, is it?"

He leaned against the other one. It was already getting hard for him to breath.

"Well, I could teach you some meditating, but I'm not sure if time will last long enough."

Zoro's voice wasn't more than a low whisper.

"Maybe in the next life, okay?"

"Deal, dart brow. In the next life."  
Sanji leaned against Zoro and tried to calm his breath. Fast, shallow breathing wouldn't help him at all. There was no oxygen left, nothing to change about that.

The breathing behind him was slow and calm.

Zoro was right. He really didn't want to die, but maybe the way it was, wasn't the worst.

Here, with his friend and not alone.

At least he didn't need to worry about his friends, right?

After all Zoro hadn't betrayed them, so they had to be safe, right?

Suddenly everything was quiet.

Only his on breath was echoed by the close walls and the back against his own gave in a little bit.

A single tear dropped down his cheek.

"See you soon, Marimo."


End file.
